MathJax can render both LaTeX snippets (which is widely used) and AsciiMath, which is less powerful but has a more forgiving syntax. The discourse-mathjax-v3 plugin allows you to mix and match both. For example, type
If f(x) = e^(-1/2x^2), then
\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} f(x) \, dx = \sqrt{2\pi},
we could type:
If %f(x) = e^(-1/2x^2)%, then
$$
\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} f(x) \, dx = \sqrt{2\pi},
$$
Note that
- AsciiMath is delimited with percent sign delimiters,
- Inline LaTeX is delimited with single dollar sign delimiters (not used here), and
- Display style LaTeX is delimited with double dollar sign delimiters on their own line.